Our driest two months...and now a heatwave

ENGLAND and Wales are suffering their driest spring since records began.

Forecasters warned yesterday that a fortnight-long heatwave is set to hit the UK from Saturday []

Experts confirmed the past two virtually rain-free months have left most of the UK drier than the famous 1976 drought.

And forecasters warned yesterday that a fortnight-long heatwave is set to hit the UK from Saturday making May one of the hottest for 350 years.

The driest spring since 1910 when figures were first compiled has seen an average of just 61.3mm of rain – 2.4 inches – going back to the beginning of March.

The last time it came close was in 1990 when just 85mm – 3.3 inches – fell between March and May.

And there is no let-up on the horizon, according to the Met Office – rekindling fears of eventual hosepipe bans and water shortages.

Forecaster Barry Gromett said: “Many places in eastern and southern England are almost certain to set a new record for the driest spring.

“Unfortunately, areas which really need rainfall, such as East Anglia and the South-east, are unlikely to see very much at all through the rest of May.

“It will be pretty dry for the rest of this week in southern and eastern parts, with any rainfall falling over Scotland and northern England, where some of it will be heavy.”

He said lack of rainfall was a result of high pressure blocking “rain-bearing” Atlantic winds. Suffolk has had just 10.2mm – less than half an inch – of rain since March 1, down 92 per cent on its usual 127.5mm spring total. It is matched by arid Cambridgeshire.